To Return to the Past
by angelic-bitch
Summary: Back in high school Edward was popular and Bella was not. He picked on her and only her. Ten years have gone by and it's time for their high school reunion. He has changed, but will she allow herself to see that? Or will she continue to hate him?
1. Returning to Forks

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Twilight, it is all the wonderful work of Stephanie Meyer!**

**My first 'All human' Twilight fic. Please review!**

"Angela will you please just stop the car!" Bella begged her best friend.

"Nope," answered Angela casually, her lips emphasising the 'pa' sound.

"I can't do this!" Bella exclaimed loudly.

"Yes you can!"

"No, no I can't, I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I thought that I could come back to this place!"

"Well you were thinking that you're 27 years old now and can handle anything. Even a trip to Forks high!"

Bella and Angela were on their way to their ten year high school reunion. It was only a few hours ago that they had arrived at the airport and had driven to Angela's parents house. They were going to stay there for the next few days while the reunion activities were going on. Bella had reluctantly let her best friend dress her up for tonight. She had wanted to go in her simple black pants and a nice top but Angela would hear nothing of it. She had somehow managed to get Bella into a stunning ocean blue dress, with the shoes and purse to match. And she prided herself on the fact that Bella had only flinched once when she had brought out the eye makeup and curling iron.

"I-I just, I..." Bella struggled to get the words out.

"I know sweetie, you don't want to see _him_," said Angela softly as she put her foot on the accelerator to make it through the yellow traffic lights. Bella turned her head to pretend to look out the window. She felt the tears form in her eyes as she thought of Edward Cullen, but she refused to let them spill. Angela looked at her best friend and sighed. "Ok Bells" she said as she pulled the car over.

When the engine stopped she unclipped her seatbelt and turned to the sad brunette. "You want to know why I think you should come tonight?"

"Why?" Bella whispered.

"Honestly? Because every time you meet a guy it's hard for you. For some reason you find it really difficult to let them in. It happened with Robert and it happened with Taylor."

Bella sighed.

"And it's about time it stopped," finished Angela.

"And how exactly is going to the reunion dinner dance tonight going stop that?"

"Well, I think that this is where it all started. Everyday you were scared to come to school because of what he would do to you. I think this is where your distrust of men really began. And to be completely honest, I don't think you've ever really gotten over it."

They both sat in silence for a while as Bella processed this.

"I'm scared of feeling the way I did back then," she eventually admitted, her voice shaking slightly.

"Why? How did you feel?"

Bella smiled unhappily.

"Weak, stupid, ugly, worthless..."

Angela grabbed both of her friend's hands in hers and cut her off.

"But you're not any of those things Bells! And you certainly never were! That was just _him _taking out his insecurities on you!"

"It's easy for you to be so confident though Ange! You're a successful psychologist and you and Ben will be getting married when he comes back from England. I, on the other hand, have no boyfriend and as of last week I'm also unemployed!" Bella pulled her hands away.

"That's because you're boss fired you because you wouldn't sleep with him! That has nothing to do with you!"

"Really? Because it seems to me that guys tend to think that I'm some brainless slut that they can use!" Bella's voice was getting louder. Angela sighed.

"You know that's not true," she said gently. "But I'll tell you what is, this is something that scares you. And now you have two choices. You can either face it and find out that it's not as bad as you think. Or you can run and hide and continually build up your high school experience as being worse than it really was."

Bella looked out of the windows at the familiar trees of Forks. They seemed so much taller and darker. And she felt so small. This was a feeling that she didn't want to have anymore. After a few moments of silence Bella looked up and smiled at her best friend weakly. "I hate it when you're right," she said softly.

Angela smiled in reply and turned to put her seat belt back on. "Really? 'Cause you know, I rather like it."

Bella cleared her throat nervously as she thought of what it would be like to see Edward Cullen again. _No I'm going to make sure I have a good time tonight! And it starts now!_

"Do you know why I think you should go tonight?" Bella repeated her friend's question.

Angela smiled widely. "Why?"

"Open bar!" Bella replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Damn straight!" laughed her best friend and she started the engine.

**I hope you like this story (the beginning is based on one of my other stories for High school Musical, 'People Change', but it will be different). Next chapter she bumps into Edward - literally. Please review I would really love to hear (read) what you think!**


	2. We meet again

**Hey tidyKat, Cutiepay, blondette1, melibaskie, Uvabunchies and KaylaSimms1990! Thank you all so much for the reviews and you're enthusiasm! And thank you to those who checked out my other stories. I hope you like this chapter!!!**

As Angela parked the car Bella took a deep breath. _Ok, I can do this._ Angela turned to her best friend with an encouraging smile.

"Let's do it!" said Bella quickly and she hopped out of the car as fast as possible. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn't give in to the impulse that was telling her to run.

As they got to the front entrance they passed a big yellow sign welcoming them back. And as they passed through the well light halls Bella stopped to take in her surroundings. Angela did the same. They could hear the music coming from the gym and a couple of waiters passed them by, carrying a few bags of ice.

"It's like we've gone back time isn't it?" whispered Angela as she looked around at the rows of lockers and educational posters on the walls.

"Creepy," answered Bella with a nod. The two of them stared at their surroundings in silence for a few minutes. Angela was the first to break out of their reverie.

"Come on. It's time," said Angela gently.

Bella turned to look at her best friend with an anxious expression on her face. Angela stepped forward and gave Bella a comforting hug. When she pulled away she placed her hands on Bella's shoulders, gripped them tightly and looked directly into her eyes.

"I love you, more than a million white chocolate chips," she said firmly.

Bella sighed nervously.

"I love you, more than a million macadamia nuts," she answered with a slight smile.

To a random person walking by this would seem like a very strange conversation. But they knew what it meant to each other. Back when they were in college they had lived together in the same dorm room. They were both very different people. But the one thing that they had agreed on was that, if you were to ever eat ice cream, it had to have crunchy bits. For Angela it was chocolate chips, for Bella it was macadamia nuts. So whenever one of them was feeling low or just wanted some ice-cream, the other knew that they also had to bring the other their desired crunchy bits. And after ten years of friendship, this had become something that they would say to each other to comfort the other. It was their way of saying, 'I'm here, you're not alone, I have your back'. When you're friends with someone for a long time, you start to develop your own personal language or way of saying things. And you know you have your own secret way of communicating if it sounds ridiculous.

Together they both turned and walked in the direction of the gym, their heels making a clicking sound all the way until they reached the crowded, carpeted hallway. There were heaps of people lining up to get their name tags. Bella's eyes scanned the crowd to see if Edward was there. She had no idea what she would say to him if she were put into a circumstance where she would have to talk to him. Her main plan was to ignore him and to make sure that she was nowhere near him at all times. With any luck he would ignore her too. (Funnily enough, luck wouldn't be on her side tonight.)

Once they had their name tags on, there was nothing left to do but enter the gym. As they walked through the doors they were greeted with quite a sight. There were circular tables set up all around the gym, each with about fifteen chairs. There were blue and silver streamers all around and the same colour balloons were held in place by a net on the roof, they would obviously be released at the end of the night. There was room enough for a dance floor and the DJ was set up at the front of it. Bella' quick eyes made a note that Edward wasn't there yet. She silently prayed that for some reason, any reason, he would not be able to make it.

"Come on," Angela pinched her friends arm gently, "We're on table four. Let's see who we're sitting with!"

Bella followed her friend, her eyes darting around the room in case she had missed him. They got to their table and so far there were only two couples there. Bella recognised two of her old classmates, Nikki and Jackson, they had been a part of the drama club, each had bought their partners. Bella felt a stab of jealousy. She hoped that she wouldn't be the only single one at the table. They all reintroduced themselves to each other and sat down, it was a little awkward, but having Angela there made it easier. Angela never found it difficult to make conversation.

"Bella are you waiting for someone?" asked Jackson's partner Ashley kindly after they had been talking a while. Bella's head whipped around when she heard her name.

"Uh, sorry pardon?"

"Are you waiting for someone?" Ashley repeated. "You keep looking towards the door. I was just wondering if there was someone you were hoping to see." She smiled gently.

"Oh," Bella laughed nervously. "Uh, no," she continued to laugh. "Definitely not." She took a deep breath and stood up. "Actually, I was thinking of getting a drink from the bar, do you guys want anything?"

They were all still on their first drinks and Angela said that she would get hers later.

As Bella headed to the bar, she mentally kicked herself. Why did she keep thinking about him? High school was over, it was a whole decade ago, even now she was letting him ruin things for her and he wasn't even here yet.

"What'll it be," the Bartender asked her when she got to the counter.

"Uh, tequila sunrise, thank you."

As she waited for her drink she thought about what she would say to him if he tried to talk to her. She was fairly certain that she would have to restrain herself from punching him or throwing her drink in his face. Name calling came to her mind also._ So much for growing up over the last ten years. No! I have to be mature about this. If I act emotionally he'll know that he still has control over me. I'll just pretend that it's nice to see him and that I barely remember him. I'll act both polite and bored and then he will see that I don't care._ Bella sighed. She felt stupid for preparing herself for a conversation that would probably never happen.

But fate would have it another way. She was actually barely moments away from having the chance to put her plan into action.

The bartender handed her, her drink and she took it gratefully. She could use some liquid courage. As she turned around to head back to her table, there was someone standing directly behind her, she was startled by his closeness and bumped into him spilling her drink her all over the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she said as she looked up to see who it was. Her eyes widened slightly. She was staring into the gorgeous golden brown eyes of Edward Cullen.

They both stared at each other for a long moment. Bella noticed that she had somehow managed to splash a part of her drink onto his tie.

"I got it, I got it," said a waiter as he came running to mop up the mess. Neither of them moved or said anything until the waiter was gone.

Edward noticed that Bella was staring at his chest. He looked down at the yellowy orange stain on his tie and then back to her.

"I'm sorry," she said again quickly. This was definitely not how she had wanted to meet him. "I'll pay for the dry cleaning of course."

Edward seemed to be looking at her as if he was in some type of strange trance. When he realised that it was his turn to say something he quickly snapped out of it. He smiled a devilish smile and chuckled softly.

"No, no don't be ridiculous." His hand moved up to loosen his tie and then to take it off. "You know, if you wanted me to take my shirt off for you Bella, all you had to do was ask." He placed his tie in his suit pocket and grinned mischievously at her. "Would you like me to get you another drink so you can aim for my shirt this time?"

Bella frowned. _Yep, still the same jerk!_ She hated how he had called her Bella. He wasn't her friend.

"It's Isabella."

"What?" he asked confused.

"My name. It's Isabella," she said firmly.

"Oh," he answered. He frowned slightly. He mind wandered to a time when he used to tease her. He had known that she had hated her full name, that's why he had purposely called her by it. In fact, back then he had made up a horrible rhyme for her. 'Isabella is a smella, ugly girl will never get a fella!'. He shook himself mentally as he remembered how embarrassed she would look when he had said things like that.

"Excuse me," Bella said and turned quickly to find Angela.

"No, no, no wait," he said and put a hand around her upper arm to gently turn her back to him. They both felt a jolt of electricity run through them as their skin made contact. She was upset by this reaction of hers. She looked at his hand and then up to his eyes, a serious expression upon her face. He immediately let go.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she tried to look bored. The truth was that she couldn't believe she was there with him or that she had felt a spark of electricity when they touched.

"Well," he said quickly. "This is a reunion Bel-Isabella. Tell me what you've been doing with yourself?"

Bella couldn't believe he was taking an interest in her. She half expected him to say something sleazy or mean like he used to. She could feel the rage building within her as those memories came flooding back. _Relax, just stay calm. Be cool. Act like you don't care, as if you're in control and then get away from him._

"Well, about two minutes ago I was there," she pointed at the bar. "And then about one minute ago I managed to save this guy from wearing a really ugly tie in public." Bella plastered a calm seeming to be confident smile on her face. "And now here I am," she laughed.

She was using the voice that you use when you met a person you know from work, while you're out shopping or at the movies. It's always awkward but you use that light, 'it's funny that I'm bumping into you' voice and pretend that everything is ok. Before he could open his mouth to respond she spoke again.

"Anyway Edward it was really nice seeing you again," she pat him lightly on the arm, then took a few steps back. "I'll see you later," and she turned to leave.

"Yeah you too." he said softly to himself as he watched her go. "You look just as beautiful as you always did."

**Hehehe, I hope you liked this chapter! The chocolate chip/macadamia nut thing was inspired by the movie 'what a girl wants' where the mother says "I love you a million Swedish fish" and the daughter answers "I love you a million red m&m's. So cute. And also by the fact that I firmly believe that ice-cream is not proper ice-cream without crunchy bits! **

**Please review, it always makes me want to write more! XOXOX.**


	3. Little black book

**Hey Cutiepay, tidyKat, Mangl234, j5girl31012, ReadItAndWeep-Nik, blondette1, Uvabunchies, LindseyRae, melibaskie and KaylaSimms1990! Thank you so much for you beautiful reviews! I hope you like this chapter!**

Bella's heart was pounding as she walked away from the boy who made her last few years of high school a living hell. He was no longer a boy though, that was for sure. There was no denying that he had grown up well. He was tall, he had filled out over the years and it was obvious that he had some muscle hiding under his shirt.

Angela ran up to meet her before she reached the table.

"Bells, are you ok? I just saw you talking to him, how did it go? Was he nice?" Her words came out in a rush, she was concerned for her friend who was looking like she either wanted to hit something or cry.

Bella swallowed nervously and didn't say anything.

"Bella?" Angela bit her lip as she waited for her best friend to speak.

Bella tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I-I well, I don't really know what happened," she sighed shakily.

"What do you mean? Was he mean to you?" Angela's eyes narrowed and looked over to Edward who was now talking to his sister.

"Not exactly, he didn't want me to pay for the dry cleaning." Bella stated. She was acting as if she were in a daze.

"O-kay," Angela said slowly, looking confused. "Sweetie, I have no idea what that means."

Bella was replaying how he had gently grabbed her arm, how she had felt the excitement run through her body and how he had seemed genuinely interested in her. She didn't know what to make of it. She hated him for confusing her and she hated herself for caring.

"I shouldn't have come here," she said quietly. Angela stared at her not knowing what to say.

"We, we should go home then," she said kindly. "I know! How about we go to Port Angeles pick up some trashy mags and a couple of pizzas, go back home and have a Buffy marathon the way we used to?"

Bella smiled. Any other person would have told her to stop being such a cry baby, but not Angela, she was the kindest person in the world.

"You're an amazing friend you know that?" Bella said softly, but then her eyes went hard. "No. We're staying. If I leave, it means that I'm weak. And I'm not!"

Angela frowned but didn't say anything.

Bella smiled reassuringly. "I'm ok." Her friend didn't look too convinced though. Bella sighed. "I'll tell you what? If anything else weird happens tonight, we'll go straight home and have a Buffy/Angel vampire romance night. Sound good?"

"Angela laughed softly. "Ok."

"Good," said Bella. "I-I'm just going to go outside and get a bit off fresh air, I'll be back in a few minutes ok?"

"Sure." Her friend nodded.

That was the good thing about Angela, she understood when a person needed a little space.

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Edward frowned as he noticed Bella exiting the Gym from across the room. His sister Alice followed his line of sight and also watched as she left.

"She's not leaving is she?" Alice asked concerned. She knew how much her brother had wanted to talk to his old crush.

"I don't think so," he answered as he looked at Bella's table. "Her coat is still hanging on her chair and I didn't see her take her handbag."

He frowned when he noticed Mike Newton also exiting the Gym. He wondered if the jerk was following Bella, but then decided that he was being paranoid.

"So when are you going to give it back to her?" Alice asked as she gestured to his jacket pocket.

Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, black, leather bound book. He flipped through the pages and looked at it thoughtfully.

"I don't think I will, at least not personally. I'm sure one of the teachers wouldn't mind giving me her details, that way I can mail it to her.

Alice frowned. "But Edward, the only reason you came back was to see her. Remember? The plan was for you to apologise to her and hopefully get some kind of closure on this whole complex of yours, where you think you're this really bad guy."

Edward looked down as he continued to fiddle with the little book.

"She doesn't want to talk to me Alice, when I bumped in to her, she acted polite and then got away from me as soon as she possibly could. I'm surprised that she didn't slap me actually. Obviously she has moved on from her high school experience." Alice hated that her brother looked so sad.

"Unlike me," he added as an afterthought. He unconsciously looked around for Bella and noticed that neither she nor Mike were back in the Gym. An alarm when off in his mind as he remembered that Mike had had a thing for Bella in their senior year. In fact, Edward had caught him pushing her up against the wall of an empty classroom. The bastard had tried to kiss her without her consent.

_FLASHBACK_

_Edward watched as Mike pulled Bella into the empty classroom. It was lunchtime and everyone else was outside. He noticed that Bella looked upset. He followed them and watched through the window of the classroom door._

"_Mike I don't want to do this," Bella said angrily as he put his hands on her hips._

"_What do you mean?" he laughed. "Yesterday you said that you liked me too."_

"_That was before two minutes ago when you said that we would have to keep our relationship a secret because you're too embarrassed to be seen with me." Bella glared at him and began to walk towards the door._

_Mike grabbed her hand a spun her to face him._

"_I didn't say I was embarrassed, look all I meant was that Cullen has this weird problem with you. And he basically rules the school. I don't want him to start screwing with me because we're going out. You get that right?"_

"_NO! I don't get that. And we're not going out!" Bella turned once more to leave but he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him._

"_Calm down Bella, look do you really want to miss this?" He put his hands around her waist roughly and kissed her without warning. _

_Edwards temper flared when he saw this. He noticed Bella pushing at his shoulders. She pulled away and Mike moved to push her up against the wall._

"_No, let go!" she yelled, she struggled to get out from his grip but he was too strong. _

"_Come on Bella, stop being so dramatic!"Mike said as her back hit the wall, not gently. Edward saw the look of fear upon Bella's face and noticed that there were tears in her eyes. And as Mike leaned in to kiss her again Edward slammed the door open._

_Mike jumped away from Bella as he noticed the rage in Edward's eyes._

"_Well, well, well, what do we have here?" asked Edward cruelly. "Mike I didn't realise that your standards were so low."_

_If it were possible Bella looked even more scared than she had a few seconds ago._

"_They're not Cullen, I was just playing around," laughed Mike. "I'm going to go shoot some hoops with Tyler." As he moved to exit the classroom, Edward blocked his way._

"_You won't play with her again," he commanded in a low tone._

_Mike looked confused but he nodded. _

_Edward's intention was to protect Bella from being hurt in the way that Mike had intended. But to Mike it just seemed like the reason Edward was upset was because Mike was playing with his favourite toy._

_When Mike left Edward turned to Bella. She was now sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. She moved her hand up to brush away a few tears that had fallen._

"_Are you ok?" Edward asked gently. Her head snapped up in surprise and she looked at him with wide eyes._

"_Yeah," she answered uncertainly._

"_Good," said Edward abruptly. "Next time don't wear such revealing clothes," his eyes drifted to the neckline of her top, "you look like a whore!"_

_Bella flinched at these words._

Edward shuddered as this memory came back to him. He rose quickly out of his seat.

"Where are you going?" his sister asked.

"I'm going to check on her, something tells me she isn't safe." And without a backwards glance he ran towards the gym doors hoping to find her before Mike did.

**Please tell me what you think about it, your reviews keep me writing! XOXO.**


	4. And so the truth comes out

**WOW guys!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the reviews!!!!!!!!!! I wrote this chapter especially for all of you beautiful people!!! Please let me know what you think!!!**

Edward arrived outside just in time to see Bella place her hands on Mikes shoulders, only to bring his body down and her knee up to knee him in the groin. Mike howled in pain as he fell to the ground clutching his very, very painful area.

Edward stood still and stared at Bella in shock.

"We're not in high school anymore Mike, so next time I suggest you back the hell off when a girl says 'no'!" Bella yelled angrily. She looked up and was surprised to see Edward standing only a few feet away looking slightly breathless.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, still surprised. "I'm not going to have to do the same thing to you am I?"

Edward looked at Mike wriggling around on the ground and then to Bella. Her face was flushed and she was breathing a little heavier than normal because she was angry. Edward thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He was so distracted by her that he struggled to find the words to construct a proper sentence.

"N-no, well I, I just, I saw Mike follow you out and, and I thought h-he might try something and, well..."he cleared his throat to give himself time to think properly. He had never stuttered over a woman before, women usually reacted that way around him. He didn't understand what was going on.

"And you thought that you would just join him?" Bella asked sarcastically glaring at him. Edward's eyes snapped up to hers.

"No!" he protested loudly. "Of course not! I-I wanted to make sure you were ok!" Edward was becoming slightly upset, did she really believe that he was like that?

Bella stared at him in disbelief. "Oh please," she said angrily and walked right past him and back into the school. Edward watched her go not knowing what to do or say.

Mike slowly got up, he was feeling dizzy not just because Bella had hurt him but also because he had had too much to drink. Edward grabbed him by his shirt.

"Don't you ever touch her again," he said through gritted teeth and then pushed Mike roughly to the ground. He then turned to catch up to Bella.

She was still in the hallway when he caught up to her.

"Bella, Bella wait," he pleaded. She turned around to glare at him.

"It's Isabella," she said in a low voice. "Look, I know you come up with all these little nicknames and pet names for all the sluts that you sleep with, but let me make one thing clear Edward. I'm not one of them!"

Bella was on a high from her anger, otherwise she would have never talked to Edward like this, she would have pretended that it was all ok. But Mike had brought her anger out and now the truth was coming with it. All that pain Edward had caused, all the times she wished she could have stood up for herself, all that she had never really dealt with was coming up now.

Edward's eyes went wide in shock.

"What? Where the hell did that come from?"

"Oh please, why else would you have followed Mike outside if not to act like the knight in shining armour? We both know I was the only girl in school you didn't get to fuck, trying to tick me off your list now Edward?"

Edward eyes narrowed in rage, he scrunched his right hand up as if he wanted to punch something. He felt his fingernails dig into his skin almost enough to draw blood. And then he did something Bella had not expected. He laughed. It was a cruel laugh the way he had done in high school when he was mocking someone.

"Well, at least you've grown a backbone now!" he chuckled and glared at her. Bella blinked in surprise not knowing how to respond to this. She glared back and him. Realising that she had let her guard down and showed him how she really felt. She began to feel angry towards herself, now all she wanted to do was get away from him.

"Whatever Edward," she answered in her best 'I don't care' voice and then turned to go back to the gym. But he ran in front of her and blocked her way. His hands were around both her upper arms holding her firmly so that she wouldn't move.

"Oh no Bella don't stop now, what else do you think of me?"

"Let go," she hissed through gritted teeth. But he ignored her.

"Let's see, so far we've got that apparently I'm a player..."

"I would go with sleazy man whore!" she spat, "now let me go!" He was still gripping her, she looked into his eyes, his anger mirrored her own and yet there was something else in his eyes that she did not recognise. She considered doing what she had done to Mike, but before she could even attempt to bring her knee up he had let go of her.

She noticed him swallowing nervously and in that one moment he looked so sad.

"I'm not, you know?" he said quietly.

"Not what?" she snapped.

"I'm not like that, I-I have sisters Bella, I-I respect women -"

Bella snorted. "Don't make me laugh, if you weren't picking on me because you hated me so much, you were off somewhere else, up some cheerleader's skirt!"

Edward looked angry for a moment but then closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"So you believe everything you hear huh?" he sighed in defeat. Before she could answer he asked her a question that caught her by surprise.

"Do you remember how we met?" he asked.

"Wh-what?"

"The day we met, do you remember it?"

Bella frowned. She was confused about why he was asking her this. But nevertheless she tried to think about how they first met. She realised that she couldn't remember it at all. All that came to mind were a series of events of him bullying, teasing or embarrassing her in some way.

"No." She answered truthfully. He looked disappointed at this.

"And why would you? All you remember is that I'm a complete asshole right?"

Bella eyes widened in surprise. _Did he just admit that he was a jerk?_

"It was you're first day here, at school. We sat next to each other in biology." Edward's eyes stared off into the distance as he began his story.

Bella was surprised to find herself interested in how they had met, or perhaps it was that he had actually remembered it. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him because the way he talked, made it sound as if she was so significant.

"I said 'hi' to you and before I knew it we were having this in depth conversation about your mum and stepdad Phil..."

Bella blinked in surprise at how Edward even remember her stepdad's name.

"I was surprised that I could get along with anyone so well," Edward continued. "The conversation just flowed so easily. So far since I had moved to Forks, I had found it difficult to be myself. I had to pretend to be someone else to fit in. But in this one conversation with you..." he sighed and thought silently for a while. "I didn't understand you, I mean, your, your parents were divorced and your mum remarried and, and you didn't even seem angry! I was jealous of you."

"Why?" Bella whispered, she couldn't believe he was saying this.

Edward sighed. "Because I wished I was like that, you had just accepted your situation. And you even moved away from the life that you knew and came here to live with your dad just to give them some space."

Bella's head was spinning, how had he remembered all this?

"And here I was this pathetic adopted kid who had moved here only a couple of years before," he sighed. "And I hated it. No one understood me. Except you." He whispered the last part.

"What do you mean?" she asked, transfixed by his story.

"How can you not remember?" he whispered, more to himself then her. "The conversation moved to me and how I was adopted and the death of my parents and then you said this thing to me about them and, and..." he struggled to find the words.

"What did I say?" she asked confused.

He sighed then looked straight into their eyes. "You said, 'you must hate them for leaving you. I would'."

There was silence for a few moments. Bella didn't know what to say.

"I didn't understand," explained Edward. "I mean, how could some random girl I had just met, understand exactly what I was ashamed to admit? I did hate them. They died leaving me alone. And within two minutes of knowing me, you already understood that and acted like it was ok."

They stood in silence for a while.

"Why are you telling me this?" Bella finally asked. She didn't know what to think.

"Because it's the reason I acted the way I did around you all those years ago. The truth was that your ability to understand me so clearly scared the hell out of me. And so I pushed you away the only way I knew how."

Bella felt a fresh jolt of anger run through her at these words.

"Are you telling me that you treated me the way you did for two whole years because, because I was nice to you?" Bella felt her eyes fill with tears. And as she closed her eyes they ran down her cheeks.

Edward flinched. The guilt was clear upon his face. He was horrified that he had caused her so much pain. He moved forward and raised a hand to wipe away her tears.

"Don't" she almost growled as she raised her hand and took a step back to stop him.

"Bella," he begged breathlessly, "please try to understand-"

"Oh but I do Edward," she answered angrily between her tears, "you avoided your pain by giving it to me!" And with those words she wiped away her tears and turned to run back to the gym.

**Oh the drama! Don't forget to review, they keep me writing! :)**


	5. The best friend knows best

**I know it's been ages, please forgive me. Thank you melibaskie, liv3609, Kayla, Emalyn, AMCovenant-March, anteliacullen, matildacullen, elleinadanielle, Cutiepay, Iluvtwilight727 (for both reviews), zozotheterrible, tidyKat, stephchole123, wowgal, SkaterGirl246, I'llAlwaysBeInEdwardsColdArms, Evans, ReadItAndWeep-Nik, Uvabunchies, karatekid917, hottie911, squody3015, MLN, London-bridge92, Longing to Write. I hope you guys like it!!!**

As Bella got to the doors of the gym she wiped her tears away and forced herself to hold it together. All she needed to do was grab her bag and her coat so that she could leave straight away. When she entered the gym she breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw that no one was sitting at her table. Angela had gone to get a drink and the others were out on the dance floor. She quickly gathered her things from her chair and then dared to glance at Edward's table. She hoped that he would be there and not outside ready to block her way. She spotted him quickly. He seemed to be having a very serious conversation with his sister and it was clear that he was upset. She didn't care, she just wanted to get out of there.

Bella practically ran to the main entrance of the school while she dialled the number for a cab. When the taxi had arrived she had asked the driver to take her to the nearest motel. She didn't care that she didn't have any clothes other than what she was wearing or anything else but what was in her hand bag. She just wanted to be alone to process what she had learned tonight. She put her head in her hands as the driver took off in the direction of Forks motel. _No don't cry, not until you're alone_. To distract herself she pulled out her phone from her bag and texted her best friend to let her know that she wouldn't be with her tonight.

Ange, I've had a really bad nite.

He said some things to me that

I need to deal with.

I'm so sorry to bail on u, I just

need 2 b alone 2nite. Staying

at Forks motel, c u 2morrow.

I love you. Xox.

Bella knew that Angela would understand. When she got to the Motel and got herself a room, she collapsed on the bed in a fit of tears. _What did I do to deserve this?_

Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight-Twilight

_What a night!'_ thought Angela as she texted Bella back with a simple 'Ok sweetie, I love you, call me if u need anything'.

"Excuse me? May I speak with you?"

Angela turned around to see Edward Cullen standing behind her.

"I don't think so" she replied coldly.

"Please, it'll only take a minute, I need your help, PLEASE!" he practically begged.

Angela sighed, he was incredibly frustrating, but she was actually curious at what he had to say.

"Fine" she glared at him.

She watched him as he put his hand it his pocket and retrieved a little black book.

"Is that what I think it is?" she said between clenched teeth, her eyes slightly wide.

She plucked it out of his hands savagely before he even reached out to hand it to her. She quickly flipped open the front page and read the message that she was expecting to see there in the cover.

To my darling princess Bella,

You asked me what love is like,

There is no way that I can tell you

because it is something that you

can only feel. One day you will find

your prince like I found your grandfather.

But for now this little book of Shakespeare's

Sonnets will have to do as a description.

Your grandfather gave this to me

on our one year anniversary . I have kept it

by my side ever since. I want you to have it.

I ask only, that on your wedding day, you

choose one of these sonnets to read and

share at your ceremony.

You will find love one day my princess,

it may not come in the way that you expect,

but it will come.

Don't be afraid of it. Embrace it. And know

that I will

be smiling down on you everyday making sure that

you will find happiness.

All my love and a kiss,

Nana.

Angela's head snapped up. "You son of a bitch!" she snarled at Edward. "She used to carry this around with her everywhere! And then one day all of a sudden it was gone. I asked her about it but she made some excuse about losing it and then never wanted to talk about it again. Now I know the truth. Do you have no conscience at all? You're a disgusting excuse for a human being!"

"I know." Edward interrupted. He saw Angela slightly jerk in surprise at his humble response. "But hopefully I can change that."He reached out and patted the little book.

"Please give this to Bella and tell her that I'm sorry. I tried to return it to her in the mail right after graduation, but it got sent back to me. Apparently her family had moved away that week and they had left no forwarding address. I have kept it all this time hoping that one day I would meet her again somehow.

Angela stared at Edward in amazement. The guilt and sadness that he felt was written so clearly upon his face, her anger dissipated and she even found herself wanting to help him with Bella. He looked so...tortured. She hadn't expected this.

"I had planned to give it to her as soon as I saw her tonight" he continued, "but I guess she distracted me". He said that last part quite shyly and his eyes looked away refusing to meet hers.

Angela smiled at that. _Oh my Gosh, he likes her. I guess that would explain a lot. _

"I'll give it to her" she promised him.

"Thank you."

They both turned around to leave, but Angela turned back.

"You know, there's this place in Port Angeles where Bella and I used to always have breakfast after church..."

Edward turned around surprised that Angela was talking to him kindly and also that she wore a mysterious smile.

"...it's called 'Angels in Angeles', maybe I can suggest that she and I could meet there tomorrow for lunch around one."

Edward's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What-" he began. But she cut him off.

"Maybe my car can break down on the way and maybe she can bump into someone there who owes her an apology."

Edward smiled widely. And Angela returned his smile.

"You'll be needing this," she said and returned the book of sonnets to him.

**Please review, you know you want to :)**


	6. The set up

**I know it's been months, I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter though...**

**Thank you to: tidyKat, shizara, lushloulou, belleanne, Clumzylil'Pixiegrl109008, rogiesophins, london-bridge92, Da RaNdOm PeRsOn, zozotheterrible, BabyBear08, Bella12797, elleinadanielle, Uvabunchies, Cat, Longing to write, yourmine and Margaritaville01 for reviewing!**

Edward sat at a table for two in the middle of 'Angels in Angeles'. He made sure he was sitting in a seat facing the entrance so that he would see Bella as soon as she entered. As he sipped his coffee, he wondered if Angela had set him up. Perhaps she had lied about helping him. Maybe she and Bella were off having breakfast somewhere else laughing at him. He mentally kicked himself for caring so much. _Who cares if she doesn't show up, at least I tried_. But he couldn't really fool himself, he needed to see her. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He hadn't been able to get to sleep last night because of it. All he could see in his mind was look on her beautiful face when he had told her the truth. It was a look of shock, fury and self-doubt. He had done that to her. He had.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. He didn't know he was going to feel like this. '_Ok, so I did have a major thing for her back in high school,' _he thought to himself as he took another sip of his coffee and glanced it at door. '_But that was years ago. The plan was to give her the book, be nice to her and apologise._ He had hoped that the reunion would bring him some kind of peace - that it would set him free in a way. But all he could do was think about her. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

As Bella walked up the steps to her favourite cafe she frowned in confusion. Angela had just called her to say that she would be late because her car had broken down. Bella knew that she had been lying, Angela always giggled nervously when she was lying. Bella just couldn't figure out why Angela would message her to meet for breakfast and then cancel on purpose.

It all became clearer as she walked through the door only to find a pair of dazzling golden brown eyes staring at her.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said loud enough for him to hear and she turned around to walk straight out. Edward jumped up.

"Bella wait!" he called, not caring that the rest of the customers were staring at him. He slapped down a ten dollar bill and ran after her.

He caught up to her easily as she walked towards her car, arms crossed, handbag hanging rigidly upon her shoulder and eyes fixed in front of her refusing to look at him.

"Bella, please will you just give me a minute?"

"It's Isabella to you!" she snapped without stopping. He had wondered if her reaction would be passive as it was in high school or if she would fight him like she had the night before. _Backbone still intact_, he though to himself,

He quickly grabbed her arm and spun her to face him.

"Let go!" she said between gritted teeth as a wave of pure anger flooded through her body.

"I just want to give you something!"

"What else could you possibly give me? Let me assure you that a sucky high school experience was gift enough!"

"Bel-Isabella I'm so sorry-"

"Stop it, stop trying to be the nice guy," she looked furious as if she actually wanted to kill him. Then he saw her raise her hand to slap him but he caught it with his and pulled her towards him to the point where their noses were almost touching.

"Don't," he whispered sternly, slightly panting.

Bella's heart was racing. But it was no longer because she was angry. She felt excited by his closeness and that made her even more furious. After everything he had done to her, he of all people was able to make her feel like this? How could that be?

"Edward?!" came a shriek of excitement near them. "Oh my God, fancy running into you here!" It was Lauren Mallory. She had been in Edward's group and had always bullied Bella. She walked right up to Edward, pulled him away from her and practically attacked him with a hug. Bella stepped away from them.

"Uh, hi Lauren, it's good to see you," said Edward awkwardly patting her on the back as she hugged him.

"I saw a silver Volvo car parked out here and just knew it was yours! I can't believe you've had the same car since high school! I have some fond memories of us in that car you know Edward, especially the back seat," she said in a voice that she obviously thought was seductive.

Bella felt her blood begin to boil with jealously, but she brushed it off as being upset at seeing the blonde haired bitch. She saw a rush of mental images of Lauren hanging off Edward's arm and kissing him against the lockers. She hated this feeling and wanted nothing but to get out of there. But this time she wanted to walk away with dignity. '_You will not lose control, yell, scream or cry' _she commanded herself as she made sure to look disgusted at what Lauren had hinted at. She then slowly turned to leave.

"That was a long time ago Lauren, if you'll excuse me I was talking privately with Bella."

Bella's heart skipped a beat and she turned back to see Lauren's reaction.

"Who?" the blonde asked and then turned to Bella as if seeing her for the first time.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," Lauren said with a fake smile.

Bella wanted to throw herself at Lauren and beat her to the ground, but Edward's words brought that impulse to an immediate halt.

"I don't know how Lauren, not many could miss such a natural beauty."

Again Bella's heart began to beat faster. This felt so strange, not at all like it had been in high school where she was used to them both picking on her. She saw Lauren's face turn slightly red at Edward's remark.

"Really?" she began. "Well I don't believe I've had the pleasure." She then grabbed Bella's hand and gripped it painfully in what was supposed to be a friendly handshake. "I'm Lauren Mallory."

"I know who you are," Bella said trying to look as if she didn't care to play the game Lauren was trying to trap her in. "We were in the same classes together for 3 years, I'm Bella."

Knowing very well who Bella was, Lauren put on a show of pretending not to remember her.

"Oh wait, Bella Swine right?" she said finally.

"Swan," the brunette corrected her.

"Whoever," was the response. "Your skin has really cleared up. Things really do change in ten years huh?"

This would be a perfect time to slap the bitch. But for some reason with Edward watching, Bella began to feel exactly the way she did when she was 16. Inferior. So she simply looked down and again tried to fight the tears. She had to get out of there.

"Yeah things change. If you'll excuse me I have to get going I have to meet a friend, it was nice to see you two again." And she walked in the direction of her car and didn't dare turn around.

What she didn't know as she rushed off was that she had just missed Edward calling Lauren "a stuck up bitch who he would never consider touching in a million years." As she walked to her car her thoughts were focusing on Edward, her feelings towards him were back to anger_. He's probably glad I left so that he can now put the moves on that stupid slut_. She thought of him pulling Lauren close to him as he had with her only moments before, then she thought of him kissing the whore and she felt her anger take on a life of its own. _Bitch, she'll probably worm her way into his bed tonight and he'll probably welcome it gladly'_. The tears of fury streamed down her face at the thought of them having sex.

For the third time in two days Edward chased after Bella.

"Isabella!" he called running to catch up to her. She kept walking her pace quickening as he got closer.

"Hey," he touched her shoulder when he caught up. She refused to look at him. "What happened back there? You've had no problem telling me to shove it for what happened back then and now all of a sudden when Lauren shows up you don't know how to defend yourself?"

She gave no answer.

"Isabella?"

No answer.

"The silent treatment. How mature." He was trying to provoke her and it worked without fail.

"Oh and you know all about being mature don't you Edward? Screwing half the cheerleading team, you're real mature," she spat at him viciously. They had now reached her car.

That changed his mood instantly. He was pissed

"That was more than 10 years ago _Bella,_" he emphasised her nickname, which he had been too scared to use before. '_This is what she thinks of me, that I just play around and think with my dick'._

"Oh please, what bull shit, don't try and tell me that you don't whore around like you did when you were younger. You don't seriously think I bought that crap about you having sisters and respecting women did you? You know, being adopted and all I wouldn't be surprised if you even hit on them, all you need is for a woman to have a pulse and you're up for it right Cullen?"

As the words left her mouth she knew she was hitting below the belt. Even though he had been the one ruined her teenage life, she was fighting dirty.

Edward's eyes widened and he grabbed her abruptly and pushed her firmly up against her car while griping both her arms to her sides above her head.

"You can say whatever the fuck you want about me, but don't you dare talk about my sisters like that!" he snarled.

"Edward y-your hurting me." Bella was scared. "I-I'm sorry."

His eyes snapped up and met hers, his grip tightening. This is not what he expected. He had come here to apologise to her.

Bella was very aware that their faces were only a few inches apart and her breathing began to accelerate.

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